If You're Still Around What's Holding Your Interest and Sub?

[Sharkie]

I came back after a couple of years properly, and resubbed completely in earnest to play the game, finish Dawntrail and engage with my FC again. It was great to see them again... Until I realised that we never gathered at the FC house anymore unless it was for maps. And then came the members I didn't like from "alliances" that had been formed... We used to be a safe haven from the wider community. Now it's part of us, and my FC leader says I'm welcome to counter argue with them if we have a disagreement. Uhm... No. I'm not arguing with ideologues who use the buzzwords.
I left the Discord and uninstalled the game, and now I'm waiting for my sub to lapse.

My FC is very active, and that's partly because they play a litany of other games that I've zero interest in. I miss the old days of gathering round the fire pit and actually doing stuff together, all of us. Two of my friends server transferred and one then left entirely, and they were the ones I was closest to. I still talk to them, but I don't have any games to play with them now. My partner doesn't play anymore because as far as he's concerned, Endwalker was where it ended. I have one close friend who's still in the FC, but he's sick of the new culture within it as well.

Combined with the MSQ (I haven't even done the first dungeon, I'm just that sick of Wuk Lamat and yes she was dreadful and insufferable in 6.55 as well), my sense of community breaking down, and then the game itself beginning to break with black squares flashing in the sky, I took it as providence. This game isn't *for me*. This community (which is very important to me as a person, I wish it wasn't and I could ignore it) isn't *for me*.

It was my saaafe spaaaace against the modbeasts, and now it's gone forever. There will never be any nights around the fire pit again, and it hurts.

I've gone back to WoW, where I play with my partner and the last friend. It's been good fun. I was enjoying WHM before I left, and Holy Priest feels very similar but expanded upon. It's actually been years since I've healed, when I used to do Holy Paladin and Resto Druid. FFXIV, to its credit, has encouraged a DPS and heal culture in WoW that has helped me to become a better player in both.

It seems today is actually my last day of my sub. It's been really difficult to let go of this game. I just hope I can.